Five Taels of Silver for Just This Little Bit?

The coffin lids could no longer hold them open; a dozen coffin lids were opened simultaneously, and the people screamed in terror.

The corpses in the coffins jumped out, and the air was filled with the stench of decay, making people feel nauseous.

The faces of the corpses were crawling with maggots, and in some places the flesh was so rotten that it was unrecognizable, making them look particularly gruesome.

These corpses, which should have been motionless, actually stood up straight and hopped towards the crowd.

Several people were hanging upside down by ropes, suspended more than a meter off the ground.

They twisted and kicked their bodies desperately, causing the rope to swing violently.

Zhou Lan cried out, "Mother! Help! These corpses are alive! Help!"

Qian Huihui was also trembling with fear. She had thought this place would be scary, but she hadn't expected it to be this terrifying.

The other children were alright, but they all fainted.

Zhou Qingzhou's face was covered in tears and snot. "I'm leaving at daybreak tomorrow. I'm never coming back."

Looking at the corpses, Zhou Qingyuan said, "Could these corpses be manipulated? I've heard of corpse-drivers who can control corpses."

Qian Huihui nodded, "Yes, it's a corpse-driving craftsman, definitely not a ghost."

The corpses slowly walked towards them. Zhou Qingyuan said, "Everyone hold your breath. If you hold your breath, these corpses won't be able to find us."

Unexpectedly, the corpse walked straight towards him.

The fingers kept groping at his body, and Zhou Qingyuan fainted from fright.

The trees kept laughing, "What corpse-driver? If we have them, why would we need one?"

"These people are all talk, but they're nothing special. They're all scared out of their wits. They're not funny at all."

Zhou Wanwan stood on the Old Scholar Tree and said with a faint smile, "Let's go! Let's go back!"

The next morning, Zhou Wanwan was having breakfast when she saw this group of people scrambling over.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them with disgust and said, "They stink. Tell them to stay away from us."

Then Zhou Fu'an shouted loudly, "Zhou Wanwan, what exactly are you raising in the woods?"

Zhou Mei cowered on the ground in fright, saying, "Go home, Mother, I want to go home."

Zhou Qingzhou was about to speak when he saw the breakfast and was immediately dumbfounded, "You brat, this breakfast is way too lavish!"

The large white porcelain bowl is filled with thick and sticky millet and pumpkin porridge, longan and lotus seed porridge, and black glutinous rice porridge, all of which are gentle and nourishing to the stomach.

The steamer baskets contain fresh meat buns, crab roe buns, jade vegetable buns, layered oil cakes, and red bean paste shumai, all skillfully crafted by the imperial chefs. The buns are neatly pleated, with thin skins and generous fillings.

The accompanying side dishes filled half the table: crisp and refreshing pickled radish, pickled ginger, braised tofu, salted peanuts, and cold black fungus salad, all of which were refreshing and appetizing.

There are also freshly made scallion pancakes, sesame seed cakes, and egg pancakes, with a crispy outer layer and a soft, fluffy inside.

There are also sweet rice cakes, sesame balls, and fried dough twists.

Zhou Wanwan took a sip of soy milk, then picked up an egg pancake. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, leaving a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth.

It also contained some chili peppers and some pork tenderloin.

After she finished eating, she ate a crab roe bun, patted her stomach, and said, "I'm stuffed again without even realizing it. The food made by the imperial chef is just so delicious."

Feng Yueyao, who was standing next to her, also ate a lot and nodded, saying, "It's really delicious, but I still like their silver thread noodles the best."

Zhou Wanwan said with a smile, "Then let's have silver thread noodles tomorrow."

Everyone outside was swallowing hard. Zhou Qingzhou looked at her and said:

"Hey! Zhou Wanwan, didn't you hear me talking to you?"

We're hungry, please arrange for us to have breakfast quickly.

Zhou Wanwan blinked at them and said, "Didn't I tell you? The mountain stronghold didn't prepare any food for you. Didn't you bring your own food?"

Old Madam Zhou coughed and said, "Weren't they eaten by the villagers yesterday? Now there's no breakfast to eat."

Zhou Wanwan said "Oh," and then added, "Then I'll have someone send you back."

Old Madam Zhou was furious, but after what happened last night, she didn't dare to say a word.

Qian Huihui said cautiously, "How about this? We'll pay, and you can cook us something to eat, okay?"

Zhou Wanwan became interested and looked at them, saying, "So how much are you planning to pay? As long as you pay, I can buy anything here."

Qian Huihui took out five taels of silver, Zhou Wanwan scoffed, "Then give them a pot of porridge and a few dozen steamed buns."

Soon the cooks brought over a pot of plain porridge and dozens of steamed buns.

Old Madam Zhou was so angry her chest ached. "Five taels of silver for this little bit of stuff? Are you robbing me?"

Zhou Wanwan laughed, "I am a bandit, after all. What else would a bandit do if he didn't rob? I didn't even rob him directly, I've been very polite, okay?"

Qian Huihui took out another ten taels of silver and said, "We need some hot water and clothes to take a bath."

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said:

"Yes, that's fine. I'll have someone boil water and send it over to you."

We're giving you a wooden bucket for free, only because we're relatives."

Soon, Zhou Wanwan had 20 sets of clothes delivered over, all of them were very ordinary cotton-padded coats.

Outside, it only costs a few dozen coins a set, very cheap.

Qian Huihui and the others changed their clothes, Old Madam Zhou muttered to her, "Third daughter-in-law, we won't gain anything here, so let's not waste our time."

Qian Huihui sighed and said:

"Mother, we need to think long-term so that we can have an explanation to give to the county magistrate when we get back."

Once we find out what's going on, we'll tell him what we need to say. The magistrate will definitely treat our family differently then.

We can still earn that money back.

Old Madam Zhou thought about it and realized that the magistrate's intention was for them to repair their relationship.

But she discovered that this relationship wasn't something they could simply repair as they pleased.

She sighed and said, "Life at home is much better than here. Let's hang in there for two more days! Shall we go out tonight?"

Qian Huihui thought for a moment and said:

"Of course we still need to go out, because if we don't go out, we won't know what the situation is like outside."

We can only see this house in front of us; we can't see anything else.

We don't know much about the situation inside the mountain stronghold yet, but at least we know they're living quite comfortably there.

Old Madam Zhou curled her lip and said:

"It's not as simple as just being well-fed. Didn't you see their breakfast? Whose breakfast is as lavish as theirs?"

Where did all this breakfast come from? I'm really curious about this mountain village now.

Qian Huihui nodded and said:

"Even the porridge I had this morning tasted exceptional. You can't find porridge this good anywhere else."

And those white steamed buns were made differently from the white steamed buns made by ordinary families.

"It might really have been made by the imperial chef."